Car-door



APPLICATION FILED NOV. H, 1919.

1,356,257, gamma 0@t.19,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES WILLIAM I-I. BRODHAGE, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

' cARfDooR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct 19, 1920.

Application filed November 11, 1919. Serial No. 337,115.

To @ZZ 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM IVI. BnoD- HAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented kcertain new and useful y Improvements in Car-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a combined side and grain'door for freight cars-which may be readily opened and closed and which will render unnecessary the use of the temporary doors now generally employed. A further object of the invention is to provide 'interlocking means on the door and the door post or jamb whereby the door will be effectually held in 'closed position and leakage through the joints will be prevented. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter fully described, the .novel features being subsequently pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved door in closed position upon a car; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the door in opened position; l v Y Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section through the door showing the same 1n closed position; Y

Fig. 4L is a view showing a portion of the car in transverse section and showing the door in opened position in end elevation;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section;

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the operating rod which also forms a lower track for the door;

Fig. 7 is a detail horizontal section showing a slight modification.

The car which is indicated at 1 may be of any well-known type and is provided in its side with a door opening, indicated at 2. On the outer side of the car just above the door opening, Ivsecure al track 3 which consists of a back platesecured to the car and a lhorizontal ledge l projecting from the lower ed ge of said back plate andpreferably formed integral therewith, the forward portion of the said ledge being bent upwardly and then doubled upon itself, as shown at 5, to provide an upstanding horizontal rib tobe engaged by the door hangers, and is also carried below the ledge, as shown at 6, to provide a similar depending rib to be also engaged by the door hangers., The track may be conveniently formed of sheetmetal of proper gage to possess the necessary strength but it may also be cast or otherwise formed, the essential characteristics being a T-shaped portion having its stem disposed horizontally and yits head vertically at the outer end of the stem and a base extending from the inner end of the stem through which fastening devices may be inserted into the side of the car.v The door 7 is of proper dimensions to fit within the door opening 2 and may be constructed of boards joined together in the usual manner. The door is illustrated as consisting of a single plate, but it will be, of course, understood that this showing is merely for convenience and is illustrative only. The side edges of the door are recessed in their upper portions, as shown at S, and below the said' recessed portions are constructed with a plurality ofrnotches 9 having their walls downwardly and inwardly inclined, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, whereby downwardly' land inwardly inclined lugs or teeth 10 are formed. The door jambs 11 are also constructed in their upper portions with recesses 12 and below the said recessed portion each jamb is constructed with notches 13 opening at their outer ends and inclined downwardly and inwardly from said outer open ends. Lugs 14k are thereby 'formed upon the jambs and these lugs correspond exactly to the recesses 9 in the side edges of the door, the lugs on the door and on the j amb alternatingfwhen the door is closed so that the lugs on one of said members will be received'snugly in the recesses or notches in the other member and consequently the `door will be locked in position so that it will resist the outward pressure of the grain. The corners of the lugor teeth arev preferably rounded off as shown. Metal sheathing 15 is securedV to the inner and outer faces ofthe door at the side edges of the same and a similar sheathing 16 is secured to the inner surface of the side of the car immediately adjacentv the jvamb and is shaped `to extend through the door opening "between the side wall andthe jamb and tlien extend over the outer surface vof the j amb. The amb l1 is secured to the trans- 15 on the door extends over the oint formed by the abutting` edge of the sheathing 1G and the edge of the door. The lower edge 0f the door is beveled, as shown at 18, and the upper surface of the door sill is similarly beveled, as shown at 19, so that when the door is closed the joint between the lower end of the door and the door sill will be of such a nature that grain cannot leak through the same. i

The door is supported at its upper end by hangers which slidably engage the upe per track. These hangers each comprise a base plate 20 which is secured to the outer side of the door near the edges there! of and are provided at their upper ends with eyes 21 to receive the lower ends of links 22, the upper ends of said links being engaged pivotally in eyes 23 on the lower ends of loops or shoes 24 which fit around the upper and lower ribs constituting the track rail. Owing to the inclined arrangement of the lugs 10 and 14 when the door is to be opened it will be necessary for it to Vmove upwardly as well as outwardly and this compound motion will he accommodated by the links 22 which have a pivoted or hinged connection with the door andthe shoes respectively so that the links will first swing upwardly at their lower ends and then as the door clears the door opening will swing downwardly7 so that the door will be suspended below the upper track and may be readily slid along the same.

Upon the beam or sill 25 of the car and on the outer side of the same. I mount the operating and guide rod 26 which also constitutes the lower track. rlhis rod 26 is provided at its ends and at its center with cranks 27 journaled in suitable brackets or bearings 23 also secured on the side of the car and at one end the rod is provided with an opera-tinglever or handle 29. Then the door is closed. the lever or handle 29 will extend upwardly from the rod v26 and its upper end will be received between lugs orears 30 through which a locking pin or keeper 31 may be inserted at the outer side of the lever to hold the same in its raised position. In this position of the parts. the greater portion of the rod will lie at the inner side of the journals of its cranked portions 27 and slightly above said journals and will be enga-ged by the lower guides or shoes 32 secured to the outer side of the door at the lower end of the same. said guides being in the form of vertically elongated loops having rollers 33 therein to run upon the rod 26. I also provide a bracket 34 at the lower end of the door which is adapted to extend over the rod 26 and is provided at its lower end with an eye 35 to iit between similar eyes 36 and receive a locking pin 37.

Truss bars 38 are secured upon the outer side of the door horizontally thereof and serve to reinforce the same and aid in withstandinei the pressure of the `grain within the car.

Through the door, near the upper end thereof, is formed a feed opening 39 which will preferably be lined, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, with metal and through which the grain may be fed into the car. Upon the outer surface of the door above and below the said feed opening, 1 provide cleats 4() which slidably receive the upper and lower edges of gates 41 which are adapted to cover the feed opening when the car has been iilled so as to prevent leakage of the grainV through the door.V The doors 41 are each provided with a handle 42 to facilitate its manipulation and a suitable fastening may beprovidedat the meeting` edges of the doors to hold them together while the car is in transit, the fastening` illustrated at 43 being the well-known hook and eye.

`When my invention is to be applied to new car doors. the lugs 10 and recesses 9 may be formed directly on the edge of the door and the sheathing 15 will serve to reinforce the edges of the door and protect the same against injurious wear. If the inven tion, however, is to be applied to doors already in position, the sheathing 16 may be easily applied to the edge of the side wall of the car and thereby secure the j amb l1 in place, but in order to prevent eXcessive weakening of the door, 1 employ' the construction shown in Fig. 7 in which the edge of thev door is trimmed down and a sheathing 44 is secured to the inner and outer faces of the door. The sheathing will project beyond the edge of the door and its intermediate portion is doubled upon itself to provide a U-shaped connection. The edges of the sheathings 44 and the locking bar 46 being fitted in and secured to the said U-shaped connecting p0rtion. The edges of the sheathing 44V and V16 will abut in alinement with the meeting edges of the jainb 11 and the locking bar 46 so that the parts will be thoroughly protected and will readily clear each other during` the openingand closing movement of the door. The jamb and the locking bar will, of course be constructed with the interlocking lugs and recesses shown particularly in Fig. 4 so that the door will be effectually locked and held in place when closed.

Assuming the door to be in closed position, when it is desired to open the same, the retaining pin 31 is withdrawn from the lugs or nears 30 and the lever 29 swung outwardly and downwardly. The rod 26 will thus becaused to rock upon the bearing portions of its cranks and will consequently move upwardly and outwardly and then downwardly and outwardly so that the door will be first lifted to release the lugs l() from their engagement with the notches or recesses 13 and after said notches and recesses have been entirely freed the door will move downwardly and outwardly and will be supported by the upper track 3. It may then, of course, be slid along the tracks so as to expose the door opening and permit the contents of the car to be withdrawn. To close the door, a reverse operation is performed and it will, of course, be understood that the pin 37 is withdrawn from the eyes 35 and 36 before attempting to open the door and is inserted in said eyes after the door is closed. The pin 37 may, of course, be sealed after being inserted so that unauthorized tampering with the door will be readily detected.

The construction devised by me and herein set forth is very simple and inexpensive and causes the door to be engaged and held in the door opening in such a manner that it cannot be accidentally released and leakage of grain around the edges or under the door will be effectually prevented.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. The combination with a car having a door opening in its side, of downwardly and inwardly inclined recesses in the sides of the door opening, a door adapted to lill the door opening` and provided in its side edges with downwardly and inwardly inclined'lugs adapted to engage the recesses in the sides of the door opening, a track secured on the car above the door opening, hangers secured to the upper end of the door and slidably engaging said track, and

an operating rod mounted on the car below the door opening and connected with the door opening in its side, of inclined lugs on the sides of the door opening, a door adapted to fill the door opening and provided on its side edges with lugs arranged to interlock with the lugs in the door opening, hangers secured to the upper end of the door and slidably mounted upon the side of the car, an operating rod having cranked portions journaled in fixed bearings upon the car below the door opening, and shoes secured to the lower end of the door and rslidably fitting around the said operating rod between cranked portions of the same, one cranked portion of the rod being between the shoes.

3. The combination with a car having a door opening in its side, of a sheathing secured to the sides of the car immediately adjacent the door opening and having portions extending through the said door opening, said sheathing being provided with bases secured to the floor of the car, jambs carried by said sheathing and provided on their opposed sides with locking lugs, a door adapted to lit within the door opening between said jambs and provided at their side edges with locking lugs adapted to interlock with the lugs on the jambs, and metallic sheathings secured to the opposite sides of the door, some of said sheathing extending beyond the edges of the door to reinforce the locking lugs.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM 1i. Brommer. [n a] 

